REG - Atlantic Lithium Ltd - AGM Statement

Atlantic LithiumAnnouncement

29/11/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 1685O  Atlantic Lithium Limited  29 November 2024

29 November 2024

AGM Statement

Atlantic Lithium Limited (AIM: ALL, ASX: A11, GSE: ALLGH, OTCQX: ALLIF,
"Atlantic Lithium" or the "Company"), the Africa-focused lithium exploration
and development company targeting the delivery of Ghana's first lithium mine,
announces that at the Company's Annual General Meeting ("AGM"), which will be
held at 2 p.m. (Perth time) today at the offices of HopgoodGanim Lawyers,
Allendale Square, Level 27, 77 St Georges Terrace, Perth WA 6000, Chief
Executive Officer Keith Muller will issue the following statement:

"On behalf of the Board of Atlantic Lithium, I am pleased to welcome
shareholders to Perth for the Company's 2024 Annual General Meeting.

"Following the grant of the Ewoyaa Mining Lease in October 2023, just a month
prior to last year's AGM, considerable progress has been made towards the
advancement of the Project. Major milestones include the grant of the
Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") environmental permit, the Mine
Operating Permit and the Land Use Certificate, and the completion of the key
criteria agreed under the terms of the Mining Lease; notably the successful
admission of the Company's shares to trading on the Ghana Stock Exchange and
the completion and submission of the Feldspar and Downstream Conversion
Studies. It is a testament to every member of our team and the Company's
partners and advisors that we have achieved these successes in such an
impressive timeframe.

"Accordingly, the ratification of the Mining Lease now represents the final
regulatory step in the permitting process to enable the Company to break
ground at Ewoyaa. We had expected that the Mining Lease would have been
ratified by now. With elections in Ghana fast approaching, however, political
crosswinds have had repercussions on the completion of parliamentary business,
which has held up our progress. The delay in ratification, accentuated by the
subdued lithium pricing environment, has forced us to make significant cuts
across the business, including to our employee headcount, to ensure cash is
allocated to activities critical to the advancement of the Project.

"Knock-on effects have also been felt across our funding activities. Despite
reaching the final stages of our competitive offtake partnering process, we
remain steadfast on the preferred terms that we had defined going into the
process and, despite lower current prices, we refuse to settle on terms that
we believe compromise the best interests of the Company's shareholders. We
continue to receive considerable demand for product from Ewoyaa from potential
offtakers and, as such, remain confident in securing the funding that Atlantic
Lithium requires to sufficiently cover its allocation of development
expenditure for the Project.

"At this point, we must recognise our key Project partners for their
unwavering support over the year. Following the completion of the Minerals
Income Investment Fund's ("MIIF") US$5m subscription in the Company in January
2024, we are delighted to welcome MIIF as a key shareholder and Project
partner. We continue to work with MIIF to close its agreed Project-level
investment, which we expect will occur once the final permitting requirements
are completed. We are also grateful to Assore for its role in leading the
successful A$10m Equity Placing that we completed in October 2024, enabling us
to complete several key activities to advance the Project towards a Final
Investment Decision ("FID"). Assore has demonstrated itself to be an avid
advocate for what we have set out to achieve at Ewoyaa and its support of the
Company continues to be pivotal in driving the Project forward. In addition,
with Piedmont Lithium Inc. announcing that it is moving forward to undertake a
proposed merger with lithium producer Sayona Mining Limited, we welcome the
ongoing commitment to the development and funding of the Project that we have
received from Lucas Dow, who is expected to assume the role of CEO and MD of
the enlarged entity, and his team. This marks the latest example of
consolidation in the lithium market, following the likes of Pilbara Minerals
and Latin Resources, and Rio Tinto and Arcadium Lithium, which we believe
indicates the commodity's longevity as a critical mineral globally. We look
forward to our ongoing collaboration with MIIF, Assore and Piedmont towards
our shared goal of delivering commercial spodumene production at Ewoyaa.

"While the ongoing delays to ratification continue to impact the Project
timeline, we remain resolute in our belief that the year ahead will present a
clearer path and that ratification will be forthcoming once the dust settles,
post-elections. In the meantime, essential work is being undertaken to ensure
that the Project continues to advance towards FID. This includes a technical
refinement and optimisation of the Definitive Feasibility Study for the
Project and work associated with the award of the key contracts for the
Project; notably the Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Management
("EPCM") and Mining contracts. In addition, considerable steps have been
taken, and will continue to be taken, towards maximising safety across the
Company's operations. The well-being of our employees, contractors and local
stakeholders remains of upmost importance to the Company. Across all of its
activities, Atlantic Lithium is committed to maintaining practices that ensure
the safety of everyone impacted by the Project, which we consider imperative
to the Company's success at Ewoyaa.

"We remain confident that the Project's low-cost profile, driven largely by
its proximity to existing infrastructure and the nature of the deposit, will
enable it to withstand current lithium prices. We are seeing a number of our
peers' higher cost projects delayed, slowed down or placed into care and
maintenance. We believe, however, that Ewoyaa's favourable development and
operating costs place the Company advantageously as we close in on FID. We
remain confident in the significant long-term demand for lithium as EV
adoption continues at pace around the world and expect the current oversupply
to be absorbed in the near-medium term. As we push forward towards shovel
readiness, we, therefore, believe that Ewoyaa can be among the fastest out of
the blocks as prices recover.

"Notwithstanding ratification of the Mining Lease, the year ahead presents
itself as a hugely important period for the Company. Key milestones include
achieving FID, the completion of remaining operational activities required to
achieve shovel-readiness, the award of key Project contracts and breaking
ground itself.

"On behalf of the Board, I would like to take the opportunity to thank our
host community chiefs, whose vocal backing of the Project continues to be
greatly appreciated, and all of the Company's shareholders for their
unwavering support, during what have been challenging times across our
industry.

"We firmly believe in the potential that Ewoyaa presents and that we are on
the right path to deliver upon this potential.

"I look forward to reporting on our further progress in due course."

 

Authorised for release by Amanda Harsas, Finance Director and Company
Secretary, Atlantic Lithium Limited.

 

For any further information, please contact:
Atlantic Lithium Limited

Neil Herbert (Executive Chairman)

Amanda Harsas (Finance Director and Company Secretary)

                   www.atlanticlithium.com.au
                   IR@atlanticlithium.com.au
                   Tel: +61 2 8072 0640
 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP      Yellow Jersey PR Limited                                           Canaccord Genuity Limited

 Nominated Adviser                   Charles Goodwin                                                    Financial Adviser:

 Jeff Keating                        Bessie Elliot                                                      Raj Khatri (UK) /

                                   atlantic@yellowjerseypr.com (mailto:atlantic@yellowjerseypr.com)

 Charlie Bouverat
                                                                  Duncan St John, Christian Calabrese (Australia)

                                   Tel: +44 (0)20 3004 9512

 Tel: +44 (0)20 3470 0470

                                                                                                        Corporate Broking:

                                                                                                        James Asensio

                                                                                                        Tel: +44 (0) 20 7523 4500

Notes to Editors:

About Atlantic Lithium

www.atlanticlithium.com.au (http://www.atlanticlithium.com.au/)

Atlantic Lithium is an AIM, ASX, GSE and OTCQX-listed lithium company
advancing its flagship project, the Ewoyaa Lithium Project, a significant
lithium spodumene pegmatite discovery in Ghana, through to production to
become the country's first lithium-producing mine.

The Definitive Feasibility Study for the Project indicates the production of
3.6Mt of spodumene concentrate over a 12-year mine life, making it one of the
largest spodumene concentrate mines in the world.(1 2)

The Project was awarded a Mining Lease in October 2023, an Environmental
Protection Agency ("EPA") Permit in September 2024, and a Mine Operating
Permit in October 2024 and is being developed under an earn-in agreement with
Piedmont Lithium Inc.

The Ewoyaa Mineral Resource Estimate (JORC) totals 36.8Mt @ 1.24% Li(2)O and
includes 3.7Mt @ 1.37% Li₂O in the Measured category, 26.1Mt @ 1.24% Li₂O
in the Indicated category and 7.0Mt @ 1.15% Li₂O in the Inferred
category.(1) Ore Reserves (Probable) of 25.6Mt @ 1.22% Li(2)O have been
reported for the Project. (1)

Atlantic Lithium holds a portfolio of lithium projects within 509km(2) and
771km(2) of granted and under-application tenure across Ghana and Côte
d'Ivoire respectively, which, in addition to the Project, comprises
significantly under-explored, highly prospective licences.

 

End Note

(1) Ore Reserves, Mineral Resources and Production Targets

The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results, Ore
Reserves, Mineral Resources and Production Targets complies with the 2012
Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral
Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code). The information in this announcement
relating to the Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") of 36.8Mt @ 1.24% Li₂O for
the Ewoyaa Lithium Project ("Ewoyaa" or the "Project") is extracted from the
Company's announcement entitled "New Dog-Leg Target Delivers Increase to
Ewoyaa MRE", dated 30 July 2024, which is available at
www.atlanticlithium.com.au (http://www.atlanticlithium.com.au) . The MRE
includes a total of 3.7Mt @ 1.37% Li₂O in the Measured category, 26.1Mt @
1.24% Li₂O in the Indicated category and 7.0Mt @ 1.15% Li₂O in the
Inferred category. The information in this announcement relating to the Ore
Reserves (Probable) of 25.6Mt @ 1.22% Li(2)O and relating to the Production
Target of 3.6Mt of spodumene concentrate over a 12-year mine life is extracted
from the Company's announcement entitled "Ewoyaa Lithium Project Definitive
Feasibility Study", dated 29 June 2023, which is available at
www.atlanticlithium.com.au (http://www.atlanticlithium.com.au) . The Company
confirms, in the case of Mineral Resources, Ore Reserves and Production
Targets, that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning
the estimates continue to apply. Material assumptions for the Project have
been revised on grant of the Mining Lease for the Project, announced by the
Company on 20 October 2023 in the announcement entitled, "Mining Lease Granted
for Ewoyaa Lithium Project". The Company is not aware of any new information
or data that materially affects the information included in this announcement,
the announcement dated 30 July 2024, the announcement dated 29 June 2023, or
the announcement dated 20 October 2023.

 

(2) Ewoyaa to become one of the largest spodumene concentrate producers
globally - Based on a comparison of targeted spodumene concentrate production
capacity (ktpa, 100% basis) of select hard rock spodumene projects globally
(refer Company presentation dated 8 September 2023).

 

Competent Persons

Information in this announcement relating to Mineral Resources was compiled by
Shaun Searle, a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists.  Mr
Searle has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of
mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity
being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012
Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results,
Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves' and is a Qualified Person under the AIM
Rules. Mr Searle is a director of Ashmore. Ashmore and the Competent Person
are independent of the Company and other than being paid fees for services in
compiling this report, neither has any financial interest (direct or
contingent) in the Company. Mr Searle consents to the inclusion in the report
of the matters based upon the information in the form and context in which it
appears.

 

Information in this announcement relating to Ore Reserves was compiled by Mr
Harry Warries. All stated Ore Reserves are completely included within the
quoted Mineral Resources and are quoted in dry tonnes. Mr Warries is a Fellow
of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and an employee of
Mining Focus Consultants Pty Ltd. He has sufficient experience, relevant to
the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the
activity he is undertaking, to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the
'Australasian Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves' of
December 2012 ("JORC Code") as prepared by the Joint Ore Reserves Committee of
the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Australian Institute
of Geoscientists and the Minerals Council of Australia. Mr Warries gives
Atlantic Lithium Limited consent to use this reserve estimate in reports.

 

The Company confirms that the form and context in which the Competent Persons'
findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original
market announcement.

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